Teachers Improvement
Teachers want to teach well. They teach because they enjoy it. Teaching is not a lucrative career. It is not easy. Teachers care about their student’s success. They realize when they fall short. They can tell when kids aren’t learning. They hate seeing their classes disengaged. They can feel helpless. New technology, new techniques, and new philosophies are stampeding into their classrooms. It is hard to manage the daily chores of teaching. It is more difficult to sift through the new information that is submerging teachers. Still, teachers want to get better. They want to improve. They want to impact their students.
How can administrators create and design an evaluation process that encourages teacher development and improvement?
Don’t try to renovate the whole house at once. You still have to live in it. Go room by room. Do the important things first. Address structural needs first. Renovating a house is a lot like renovating an educational staff. It takes time, and skill. Home renovations are stressful and costly. Be prepared for everyone to be uncomfortable and be prepared to spend money. Don’t sell your future short for a little saving today.
Define the areas that need improvement.
Outlining district wide goals is important. Staff should be encouraged to make these goals their own. Work on different goals at different times and different ways. Don’t overwhelm your staff. Have a set time to focus on technology, curriculum development, classroom management, differentiated instruction and learning strategies. Remember; when building momentum the first steps are the hardest.
Design training that explains why teachers should and how they can improve in this area. A teacher who understands why improvement in a certain area is important will have an easier time implementing the changes.
Tell teachers they can improve.
Yesterday’s worksheets won’t work with today’s students. Teachers may grow complacent. Don’t let them settle for good. Inspire them to be great. Teaching can be routine. It’s easy to reassign old worksheets to new classes.
Open their eyes. Show them students who are being engaged and educated. Let them see the possibilities. Give them the research and help them see themselves as capable of improving. Demand improvement, and inspire them. Tie the employee evaluation processes into an improvement plans.
Teach them how to improve.
Teachers see most evaluation processes as “gotcha” programs developed to punish them. Teachers fear evaluations because they know they need improvement. Design rubrics that teachers can understand before their evaluation. Let teachers be involved in the design of the rubric. This will make them large stakeholders in their improvement plans.
Provide positive feedback. Let them know what they do well. Everyone needs encouragement. You may highlight something they weren’t aware of. Help them build on their strengths. Positive reinforcement works at all ages. No one minds a pat on the back for a job well done. Don’t just tell them what they are doing wrong, but show them how to do it better. It takes time for people to develop.
Give them the time and tools they need to improve
Teachers need time to improve.
Administrators must give them time to increase their skill set. Hire a substitute for them and send them to a conference. If a teacher scores low in a particular area they must be given time to improve their weakness. Give extra time during working hours for improvement. It is unfair to require a teacher to commit to training outside of their normal work day. Hire subs, and let teachers observe other teachers. They will learn things from their peers, and be able to offer horizontal ideas for improvement.
Teachers need tools to improve.
Your evaluation process must be tied to tools that teachers can use to improve. Requiring teachers to perform certain tasks without the proper training is a recipe of disaster themselves. Teachers who need more help should be able to receive it. Giving a teacher technology is not enough. Train them how to use it. A smart board will be a glorified chalk board without training. Working in groups will turn into “copying parties” if teachers are not trained how to design and manage/oversee groups.
Don’t expect all teachers to be comfortable with technology, but expect them to use it more. Teaching is an art and every artist is entitled to his or her favorite brush. Give them the space to be themselves in the midst of your process and procedures.
